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Thread: Pymatuning ?’s, south end

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    Default Pymatuning ?’s, south end


    I’ve been crappie fishing pymatuning for about 5 years now, most of my limited knowledge is on the south end of the lake and I typically don’t start fishing until late April beginning of May through the summer. I have a few questions for you guys/gals.

    My first question is, do you think the crappie migrate long distances in the winter/early spring/ice out, to find warmer water at pymatuning?

    Do crappie stay on the south end of the lake all year, or do they run north to warmer water once the ice comes off?

    If the crappie are on the south end all year, what advice can you give me if I would rather fish the south end when the ice comes off? Should I look for structure, creek beds, edges, rock bottom? Should I look for deeper water closer to known spawning areas? Is it a waste of time and just go up north with the crowds from ice out until water temps hit 50 in the south end?

    Every year early spring it’s the same thing, the bite is dead on the south and it’s hot up north in the streams and warm shallow bays. I would love to find them on the south end early in the season.

    Any advice or past experiences are greatly appreciated.
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    chaunc is offline 2014 Crappie.com Man of the Year * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Asking for some precious secrets here. Yes the fish will travel long distances to find warmer water. Yes there will be fish in the south end all spring. Mostly whites. And yes they spawn shallow on the south end. I know this from close to fifty years fishing this lake. If you want to learn where they are, honestly, just keep your eyes open as you search. The boats will tell you a whole lot at both ends of the lake. I hope you get what I’m saying. I’ll get crucified for spot burning if I give more info than that. See you in April.
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    Thank you so much! That’s exactly what I was looking for. Definitely not trying to be hand fed your fishing spots, but in return I was not trying to fish for fish that possibly would not have been there. I really appreciate you help, see you in the spring!
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    S10CHEVY is offline Crappie.com 3K Star General - Moderator Pennsylvania
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    A member from church, told me yesterday, that a friend of his, is catching big crappie and walleye at the south end of the lake. So they are catching them on that end.

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    Thank you for the heads up s10chevy!
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    Another question, at pymatuning do you ever get mixed bags in the same location of black and white crappie? To be honest with you guys I don’t think I have ever caught a white crappie. When I first started fishing pymatuning I may have caught a white crappie or two, but I honestly couldn’t tell the difference. (A crappie was a crappie then, I know the difference now)

    I bought a boat about 6 years ago and a buddy and I wanted to get out of town for a week so we rented a cabin the first week of May. On our first trip we were basically drowning bait for about 6 hours, mainly targeting walleye. We drove back to the Jamestown ramp and an older couple asked how we did, we said just 1 crappie and a few throw back walleye. The lady said if you guys want to catch fish she said go to that little island (pointed) and fish the bank with a bobber and minnow. Well we did the next day and caught a bunch of crappie, these were bigger then the biggest crappie I had ever seen. I was addicted from that point on.

    Now over the past 4-5 years we’ve been making the trip down much as we can get out. Over the years we learned different locations to fish at different times of the year wether it being shallows or a little deeper. We typically catch fish every trip and sometimes decent numbers, always black crappie. Two years ago my buddy and I went out with a crappie guide and he helped us with different setups and explained where and what the crappie like to do on pymatuning. (He helped us equip the boat with proper crappie gear) We fished for white crappie on deeper rock flats with structure in June, but were unsuccessful.

    I do not claim to be a pro crappie angler, but you guys are a great source of help and a huge contribution to my fishing success. Anytime I can get out and find a new weed line, new brush pile or any structure for that nature and catch fish I consider it a success.

    Thanks for the help guys!
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    Pymatuning guys and gals, when do the docks typically get put back in the water? Any advice or areas where I should try to launch if the docks are not in the water? I am wanting to fish right when the ice is off this year, just don’t know if it’s doable to launch my boat. I know we have a while yet with decent ice still on, but I would much rather be prepared. In other news I just booked my cabin for Friday May 3 and Saturday May 4th! Can’t wait to get on the water and rip some lips!
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    Also are you guys doing crappie camp this year at pymatuning, if so what weekend? I would like to stop down.
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    When your fishing right at ice out, fish where the ice fisherman were catching them and use the same methods, finesse methods work. Find the crappie cribs, plenty of them around the lake and fish SLOW. You can stop at the park office for a map of the cribs.

    The fish at the north end will migrate into the shallows in the bay's. Think 2-3 fow. Lower end of the lake , fish deep water until it starts to warm up. The fish at the upper part of the lake are more susceptible to weather changes. Fronts moving through will cause them to get lock jaw while at the south end the fish don't seem to be so effected by changing weather fronts.

    Go to the posts that took place during the ice season and use those spots as a starting point. Try these sites; ohiofishgame.com,ice shanty.com, fish finder.com and of course crappie.com. You can also go to in fisherman.com for some helpful tips.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nwpacrappie View Post
    Also are you guys doing crappie camp this year at pymatuning, if so what weekend? I would like to stop down.
    Unfortunately, we won’t be having crappie writers camp this year. As a matter of fact, Darl has cancelled the camps permanently. Got an email just yesterday from him saying so. I’ve been a participant in 4 of the 5 he’s had. Met some great guys and women at them. Made some good friends from all over the country also. Hopefully they’ll start back up after a couple years hiatus. Wish I had the resources and energy to put one together but I don’t.
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